South Africa is a Good Market for Online Casinos
Today's world is becoming more and more online as time goes by, so it is not a surprise to find that online entertainment (especially in these times) is one of the most lucrative industries in the entire world. Gambling is one of the world's most old entertainment activities, and, even if online gambling is somehow "recent" it has gained a place in every player's mind. Every day, more players make the change from landline casinos to online casinos, as they offer the same experience with even better perks, one of them, is that you can enjoy the
full gambling experience without even leaving your home.
But what happens to players that live in countries where online gambling is
considered illegal? What are the options for players that are from South Africa for example? Even if the law does restrict online gambling inside the South African territories, there are still some options for players that reside in South Africa as, according to the law, it is illegal than an operator offers its services to South African players, but, it is
not illegal that South African players register and play at an online casino.
Additionally, there are (very few) online providers with a valid license to operate inside South Africa, and many of them offer free
no deposit casinos in South Africa. These are considered as
"free trial" or a
"No deposit bonus" promotions to attract new players to the casino.
Amongst these "Free" casinos you have Thunderbolt casino, Punt Casino and Springbok Casino. Each of them offers a unique no deposit bonus so that new players can try out the casino before making a deposit. At thunderbolt casino new players will get an
R10,000 free bonus just by creating an account; at Springbok Casino, new players will get an R250 no deposit bonus, and, finally, Punt Casino offers an R10,000 free as part of their welcome bonus offer.
Of course, there are always better casinos than others, and, in the case of South African casinos, we consider that the top three are conformed by Zar Casino, Springbok Casino, and Yebo Casino.
Zar Casino
This casino was established in 2019 and it holds a Curacao Gambling license (which means that they are licensed by the government of Curacao). One of the most amazing aspects of this casino is that you can play it on any device without having to download an app. This casino can be played on your phone, tablet, or computer by using a compatible web browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari.
This casino offers 140 real money games including slots, progressive slots, and table games. At Zar Casino, new players will receive a
200% welcome bonus of up to R15,000 plus 100 free spins.
Additionally, Zar casino also offers regular free spins and slot tournaments for all of their players.
Depositing at Zar casino is an easy task, a new player just needs to set up an account, register it's Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card and it can immediately deposit the casino. Unfortunately, these are the only payment methods available at the moment; however, the good news about this casino is that they accept ZAR, Euros, and US dollars as
payment methods.
If you want to get even more rewards, make sure you complete the tasks assigned on the loyalty rewards program that this casino offers. By completing these tasks, you will have the chance of getting more (and better) rewards including gifts and interesting gadgets.
Finally, this casino counts with a 24/7 live chat service and a toll-free number as their contact options for customer support.
Yebo Casino
Yebo is an online casino established in 2014. This casino is owned and operated by Yebo Affiliates Casinos which are licensed by the government of Curacao. This casino can be played on any device (tablet, phone, or pc) by using a valid web browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari without having to download any additional software or app.
Yebo Casino rewards their new players with a 50 free spins no deposit bonus and with an R12,000 welcome bonus offer; the welcome bonus will be accredited on the player's first three deposits. On their first deposit, new players will receive a
150% match bonus up to R2,250, on their second deposit, new players will get a
75% match bonus up to R3,750 and, on their third deposit, new players will get a 50% match bonus up to R6,000. To claim the welcome bonus a new player must use the promotional codes WELCOME150 (for the first deposit bonus), WELCOME75 (for the second deposit bonus), and WELCOME 50 (for the third deposit bonus).
Additionally, this casino offers regular bonuses that you can claim after getting your welcome bonus offer that includes free spins, 15% weekly cashback bonuses, daily slots tournaments, and daily promotions such as free no deposit bonuses,
free spins, and match bonuses. Yebo Casino also offers a VIP program.
This casino is equipped with the best games available, here you will be able to play from a wide collection of video slots, online slots, and table games such as blackjack, roulette, video poker, baccarat, tri-card poker, craps, keno, and lottery. Additionally, you will find a wide variety of deposit methods that include credit and debit cards from Visa and MasterCard, EasyEFT, ecoPayz, and Bitcoins.
Finally, this casino offers a 24/7 live chat, two toll-free numbers, and an email address (support@yebocasino.co.za) as their contact options.
Springbok Casino
This online casino was launched to the market in 2012, and since then, it has become one of South Africa's most popular and recommended online casinos. If you are currently looking for a casino that exclusively takes South African Rands, then, Springbok casino is your ideal place as this is the only currency that they take at this moment. This casino is licensed by the government of Curacao and you can play at it from any device (phone, tablet, or pc) without having to download any additional software or app.
New players at Springbok casino will enjoy a free no deposit bonus of R250, to claim this bonus, players must make use of the promotional code TEST-SPRINGBOK. After claiming your no deposit bonus, you should get the welcome bonus offer that this casino gives to new players. With this offer
, players will get up to R11,500 on their first three deposits.
On the first deposit of the welcome bonus, new players will receive a 100% bonus of up to R1,500. On their second and third deposits, new players will receive
two bonuses of 50% up to R5,000. To get these bonuses, all new players that make the three deposits must use the promotional codes SPRINGBOK100 (on the first deposit) and SPRINGBOK50 on each of the following deposits.
Additionally, this casino offers a 300% bonus up to R600, a 25% cashback promotion (available for every deposit that you make that does not contain a bonus), and a 100% "lucky" bonus up to R777. This casino offers a huge game catalog that includes the following categories: slots, progressive slots, and table games.
Finally, the available payment methods at this casino are Visa and MasterCard, EasyEFT, Wire Transfers, Skrill, Neteller, ecoPayz, Secure Instant Deposit, and Bitcoins. Springbok Casino counts with a 24/7 live chat as their main contact option.
Bitcoin: the best payment option for South African players
South Africa has always been a pro-crypto territory even after the OneCoin Ponzi scheme of 2019. Currently,
Bitcoins are a very affordable and accessible option for regular South African Citizens, and if you add the protection to your data that comes with using cryptocurrencies as a payment method, it is easy to understand why they (especially Bitcoins) are being used more frequently each day.
Using a cryptocurrency allows the user to protect their identity even better than with a credit card or a bank account, so, due to the restrictions and regulations that the South African government has imposed on online gambling (it is currently considered an illegal act), many players use Bitcoins as a
"safety net" in case that they are being tracked as they play at an online casino.
Even if by law the only ones that are breaking it are the online casino operators and not its players, it is better to be “safe than sorry”, so having the additional protection that Bitcoins give to transactions is always a must for a lot of South African players.
South African gambling laws and Responsible gambling organizations
Since 1965, gambling inside the territories of South Africa has been considered either restricted or illegal, additionally, online gambling is currently considered an illegal activity. The law that made online gambling illegal was implemented in The National Gambling Act of 2004, which was updated in 2011. However, these laws punish online game providers and not South African players that access such services; because of this, many South African players are still able to find (very few) online casinos to play from.
Despite online gambling not being an “illegal” act for online players, there will still be consequences if a player is found playing at an online casino inside the South African territories, however, since it's very difficult to track information from offshore servers,
prosecutions and convictions for online gambling are extremely low.
Also, there are some casinos (like the ones that we have mentioned in this article) that focus on South African players as their main market targets. These casinos make their responsible gambling tools according to the South African responsible gambling organization requirements as shown on responsiblegambling.org.za
